The Colorado Avalanche rolled past the Calgary Flames 5-2 Saturday night, with Cale Makar orchestrating the offense from the blue line and Artturi Lehkonen converting twice to lead the way. Nathan MacKinnon chipped in offensively, Brock Nelson and Martin Necas each scored, and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 25 saves.
The victory extended Colorado's winning streak to two games against opponents working through the second half of back-to-back schedules — the Avalanche had turned back New Jersey earlier in the week and then faced a Calgary side that had beaten Seattle fewer than 24 hours earlier. Calgary's goaltending depth was tested when Arsenii Sergeev was summoned from the AHL after Devin Cooley was sidelined by a lower-body ailment. Sergeev stopped 29 shots in only his second career NHL start and his first of this season.
After MacKinnon broke the ice late in the opening period, Blackwood kept the one-goal lead intact with a sprawling glove stop with fewer than 10 seconds remaining in the frame, then denied Joel Farabee just 12 seconds after the second period began. Nelson capped a three-goal burst inside the first 10 minutes of the middle frame that pushed Colorado's advantage to 4-0. Calgary's Joel Farabee pulled one back, and Martin Pospisil cut the deficit further just under two minutes into the third, but Lehkonen redirected a Makar point shot at the 4:09 mark to make it 5-2 and close out the scoring.
Colorado escaped the night without drawing a single penalty, while Calgary was whistled three times, including a pair of infractions assessed together late in the third period. The discipline gap gave the Avalanche extended man-advantage situations during the final stretch of a game already well in hand.
The Avalanche did absorb a scare when Nelson left the ice midway through the second period after a Makar shot struck the side of his helmet, though he was able to reach the bench on his own and rejoined the lineup for the third period. Colorado is already managing the absence of defenseman Josh Manson, who is expected to miss roughly two months after suffering an ankle injury against New Jersey.
Colorado heads to Chicago on Monday, and Nelson's health heading into that contest will be worth monitoring in the days ahead.